why is `propertize' defined in C?

[Drew Adams]

Does the C definition of `propertize' do anything other than this? 

(defun propertize (string &rest properties)
  (let ((new  (copy-sequence string))
    (add-text-properties 0 (length new) properties new)
    new))

(Well, to get the exact same result as the C version, PROPERTIES would need to
be reversed before adding.)

What's the point of defining something like this in C?